Zelda: Don’t Miss the Best Secrets of Hyrule Castle

Breath of the Wild is a very open-ended game, a first for the series. As such, the guide below is just one of many possible ways you can experience the game. We recommend you take time to explore the world at large in-between the main objectives you are given.

From the moment you speak to King Rhoam on The Isolated Plateau and learn the history of Hyrule and the reason your awakening – you’ll be able to march upon Hyrule Castle and take on Ganon himself. However, there’s a lot more to it than just marching in – Hyrule Castle is a dangerous place, and depending on what you’ve accomplished prior, things may unfold very differently.

Note: Entering the Sanctum of Hyrule Castle and facing Ganon will play out differently depending on how much progress you’ve made in the Main Quest, and whether you’ve freed some of all of the Divine Beasts. For more information on what can change – see the

Even the act of breaching the main wall of the castle can be a daunting task, whether you’ve played the game for 4 or 40 hours. We recommend you only attempt to enter this dungeon when you are sufficiently prepared, have many meals with extra hearts and stamina ready to go, equip the best and most powerful weapons you can find (like the Master Sword), and have freed the four Divine Beasts. You should also have as many Heart Containers and Stamina Vessels as you can find, and expand your inventory slots with Korok Seeds to hold as much stuff as you can. Running out of weapons or ammo before the final fight will end the run that much quicker. Of course – you don’t have to do any of that if you don’t want to, things will just be that much harder.

There are four main paths to enter Hyrule Castle itself – one for each side, although you can alter these strategies to your liking. In this next section, we’ll go over the different routes to the castle.

Arguably the most dangerous one, a direct path to Hyrule Castle’s main gate is lined with legions of Guardians – both stationary, active, and flying. There are a few giant rock plateaus that are mixed in with the ramparts surrounding the Castle Town Ruins that make for good staging points as the ground-based or immobile Guardians can’t get to you, and you can either try and glide past them or trade shots with a bow while ducking back out of range.

With the sheer amount of guardians you’re going to be facing – this is a good place to practice your perfect parry skills. Get some disposable shields and time it right so once the fire their laser – you press A before the beam hits to reflect it back at them. Direct hits will kill Decayed Guardians in one hit, and all others in three parries. In a pinch, you can also use Daruk’s Protection to reflect beams too. Mastering the perfect parry will make the assault that much easier.

Castle Town Ruins is split up into three sections, the East, West, and Central ruins. Over on the West you can use the rubble from Quarry Ruins to dodge past the patrolling Guardians and move by the reservoir – but there are little ruins here to hide behind. The East Ruins are full of blown up building and streets to navigate, but there are many Guardians patrolling here. The Central ruins leading to the large fountain are among the worst, with many Guardians waiting to activate – however some are already missing several arms and you can chop the rest off to immobilize them. On all side, you can use the ramparts that border the ruins to get around quickly, as you’ll only be out in the open when crossing between the destroyed structures.

Note that there’s a lot more Malice in the Central area, but a few roadblocks have an eye you can shoot to remove some of the Malice. From the central ruins, you can either head right to the main gate, or even glide under the gate or use Cryonis blocks to cross the moat.

The path from the Hyrule Ridge and forests below offers a bit better odds of you getting in with minimal fighting – but don’t expect for it to be wide open. This path will lead you through Castle Town Prison – or what remains – which include a large rocky plateau that overlooks the ruins next to the moat, where you’ll have to contend with two Flying Guardians circling the plateau, and a mobile Guardian moving about the ruins. On the North end of the moat, you can find the best chance of getting in – a raft just waiting for you to swing a Korok Leaf into its sails – though you can also use Cryonis to build your own steps across the moat. You can either take the raft West across the moat to part of an exposed minecart rail leading into the castle, or go further South until you spot a landing leading into said mines and the Castle Prison.

The path down from Great Hyrule Forest and and the Eastern regions is pretty empty, which is both a good and bad thing. The good thing is you’ll only have two Guardians to worry about coming in from this direction – the bad news is that Hyrule Castle Park has very little in terms of cover, with only a hill full of trees. However, if you can duck around them or go by the moat, you’ll only have one Flying Guardian high up to move around.

From here you can see across the moat but the ground is pretty high up which limits you to two options – using Cryonis to create platforms across and either climbing up or using the waterfall to build ice platforms, or you can move a bit South to find lower ground near the bridge to the castle, and glide across. There’s also a raft docked near the Boneyard Bridge, but getting it all the way to the castle can be a pain.

Arguably one of the easiest ways in – provided you have the tools and the means. You can head down to the West from the Woodland Tower and avoid the roving bands of mounted Bokoblins and Wolves to get to the large northernmost pillar. A single Flying Guardian patrols the pillar – but as long as you give him a wide berth he’s little problem. From the pillar – since you can’t climb it, you can glide across with ease to the platforms that are low in Hyrule Castle – especially the entrance to the mines on the right, and a hidden Harbor entrance in a cave near the mine entrance – just watch for two Guardian Turrets on either side.

Hyrule Castle is a massive dungeon in itself, and in fact many parts of it are completely optional – you’re only main goal is to climb to the top of the castle and enter the main Sanctum marked on your map where Ganon dwells. How you get there – that’s entirely up to you, and there are a LOT of ways you can do it.

Approaches tend to boil down to three types, or a mix of them: Storming the front gate and attacking Ganon’s minions head on as you make your way up the main road to the throne, or infiltrating the interior of the castle and making your way through twisting passages up to the top, or stealthily climbing up the castle via the surrounding walls and waterfalls, avoiding any and all combat when possible.

Listed below, we’ll take you through each of the these types of attempts – and alert you to the many treasures and enemies you can find along the way.

If running and gunning through the roads of Hyrule Castle isn’t your thing, there are many interior areas clear of Guardian presence, and much treasure to be found – however, they aren’t devoid of life, and many powerful monsters roam the interior.

There a couple ways to enter, depending on the direction of your infiltration. The easiest ones being the North Harbor Docks or East Passage into the Library and the West Mines and Prison Lockup which lead to Zelda‘s Room, which are detailed below:

You can get to the Mines by looking for a small entrance close to water level on the Southwest side of Hyrule Castle Moat – seen at night by the few Luminous Stones cropping up outside.

Inside you’ll find a small cave with a Cooking Pot, chest holding a Diamond, and a bomb-able wall leading to several Frost Pebblits guarding an abandoned mine cart.

Smash the pebblits with a hammer and get in the mine cart. Use Stasis and whack it a ton to get it moving as you fly down the rails through a tunnel full of Keese.

As the mine cart ride ends, leave and head into a large cave full of thankfully rusted Guardians (as well as a set of statues that want you to place an egg in the pot if you want a Korok Seed). Moving up, head into the next room to find another bomb-able wall that leads to hall where you’ll find a large Mine Shaft on the right, and the outer Lockup on the left.

To get into Lockup, you can either look for a bomb-able wall at the end of the aforementioned hall – or you can infiltrate the inner Lockup by gliding across the North Moat and looking for a entrance low to the ground guarded by a Decayed Guardian (more Luminous Stones mark the path).

From the entrance, the gate inside is sealed – but you can use Cryonis on the water to lift the gate up. Inside you’ll find a very long hall of cells full of Malice and Monsters – so be on alert.

For the first Malice roadblock, look into the cell on the left to spot a large eye and a gap in the bars you can shoot it through. This will unlock both cells on the side as well as clear the Malice – and there’s a Royal Guard’s Claymore in the cell where the eye was.

The opposite cell has a bomb-able wall to the adjacent cell where a Moblin is waiting. Alternatively, you can hit the lever between the gates to open both up – but a Lizalfos is lying in wait in the other cell. Be careful, as the monsters here wield powerful weapons, and you should be on your guard. Note that the Lizalfos’ cell has a breakable wall into the adjacent cell where another Lizalfos guards a chest with a Silver Rupee.

Be sure to check the opposite cell here for a Royal Bow, then move onward. The next set of cells is where you can enter via the hall outside if you came from the Mines, and you can shoot the lever in the middle to open the cell – but a Moblin waits in the other cell guarding a Blizzard Rod.

The end of the Lockup hall has a chest with a Topaz inside, but be sure to look at the far alcove that leads to a large chamber. Here you’ll find an optional miniboss – the Stalnox.

The Stalnox is fairly imposing, and will rip its own bones off to throw at you – but the eye is the weak point. Strike it to stun it, and if you deal enough damage you’ll dislodge it, whereupon you should attack the eye with all your might, for it holds his true life.

Keep knocking his eye out and dodging his bone attacks to defeat him, and you’ll be rewarded with the legendary Hylian Shield!

Back on the Lockup side of the castle for a moment, enter the large shaft that lone Moblin is guarding.

To get up, you can either use the waterfall (either using Cyronis or climb the nearby stone pillar to start moving up). One side, there’s a rock you can pick up to find a Korok, and opposite the ledge you can spot a ladder leading into a small room. Inside there’s a lever you can hit to summon a gust outside that will carry you up – but be sure to look for a bombable wall in here leading to a tiny room where a Lizalfos guards a chest holding a Shard of Dinraal’s Fang.

At the top of the shaft, take the hall that passes through lots of Malice and Eyes blocking your way. On the right, you can find stairs up to a higher exterior road if you clear out the eye blocking the path, and look to the right of where the eye was for a chest with Ancient Arrows, and a Royal Broadsword next to it. The stairs up here also leads you close to Zelda’s Study if you haven’t been there.

Keep taking the main hall and clear out the Malice ahead and you’ll reach a Lizalfos guarding a Cooking Pot and stairs down to the Guard’s Chamber. Be sure to look at the bottom of these first stairs for a breakable wall on the left leading to a chest with Ancient Arrows.

In this large open room, some Lizalfos are on the first floor down amid some explosive barrels, and a Moblin waits on the platform below. Give the Lizalfos a surprise by shooting the barrels, and then clean them up. There’s a lot to loot on this level, including a Knight’s Claymore and Knight’s Halberd behind the target practice area, and to the right of that duck under the stairs you went down to find a chest holding a Shard of Naydra’s Fang.

You can also climb around the broken stairs to reach the upper area to find a Falcon bow, and two chests holding a Silver Rupee and Bomb Arrows. Now jump down to the lower level to take out the Moblin and help yourself to the remaining items like the the Royal Claymore and Royal Guard’s Claymore he was holding.

Back at the top of the shaft, head left outside to find yourself below Princess Zelda’s study – located at the top of the spire.

It’s just a quick climb or trip up the nearby stairs – but watch for a Guardian Turret along the stairs and a Guardian Skywatcher above the spire.

Going up the stairs will put you in Zelda’s room that a Moblin guards wielding an Edge of Duality. While you’re here, look for a Royal Guard’s Bow above the fireplace, a chest with a Silver Rupee behind a screen, and Princess Zelda’s Diary in the corner.

Across from the room is her study located in the spire, before which lies a Memory. Inside you can find a Silent Princess and Zelda’ Research notes.

The next section explores an alternate entrance to the castle leading to the Libary via either the East Passage or Docks.

If you’ve planned your route to bring you along the West Moat – located by Hyrule Castle Town Park – you can look across the moat by the large pillar to spy a waterfall and a chunk of land along the Northwest side.

Use Cyronis to get across and either climb up or use the Zora Armor to ride the waterfall up, then travel up the Northwest side of the castle slopes to find an entrance lined with luminous stones.

Inside is another mining area complete with a minecart – which you can use with Stasis to trigger it to fly down the tracks, and take out the Keese that fly about the mines. At the end of the tracks, you can find a large shaft leading up – but the way is blocked by a Stone Talus that holds Rare Ore on its backside. Get around behind it to snipe the ore – or climb up when it falls over to strike it.

Once it’s defeated, it will uncover a large geyser gust that will let you fly up all the way to the Library via an entrance covered in Malice.

Aside from the East Passage entrance, there’s also another secret entrance located not far from Lockup – just to the left of the front entrance there’s a large cave that water leads into – which will put you in a secret Harbor. While you can swim or drive a raft in here – it may be better to stick to the left wall ledge.

Doing so will put you up overlooking the water below, where you can find a Lizalfos lying in wait with two more by the docks – but if you’re sneaky you can get the drop on them and grab a Great Flamberge next to the higher Lizalfos, and aim for the explosive barrels next to the Lizalfos below.

If you take them out, help yourself to a floating chest to grab an Ancient Arrow, as well as another metal chest in the water below holding a Star Fragment.

Head up the large stairs to the platform overlooking the harbor and note all the lit torches that exclude a large unlit brazier. Light it, and you’ll uncover a secret shrine: Saas Ko’sah Shrine. Now you can head up the long flight of stairs up to the upper floors where the Library is.

Video Guide: Library, Dining Hall, and Sanctum Ascent

Entering the Library from a hidden metal bookshelf you can Magnesis out of the way – be wary, as the place is crawling with high level Lizalfos – like the one in front of you one the ground floor.

Others wait on the balconies above – guarding the other exits. Before heading up, you can look around for a recipe book, and also look for another metal bookcase on the opposite side you came in from.

This leads to a secret chamber where one of the pillars has burst up from, and you can mine some ore here with a Stone Smasher and grab a chest with a Silver Rupee.

There’s also one more secret bookshelf you can move aside to the right of where you came in to find the King’s private room. Inside is the King’s diary, a chest with a Gold Rupee, and a Royal Guard’s Shield.

The stairs above the King’s Study lead to a Malice-filled doorway you can snipe to exit onto a higher path up above, or you can venture to the opposite side of the Library to find a path leading out around the Malice – and a chest with a Silver Rupee below the door – where a chamber beyond has a Great Frostblade amid some rubble in the corner.

The hall outside the Library has a few Lizalfos patrolling ready to shoot elemental arrows at you, and past them is a large armory guarded by a single Moblin. Take him out and loot the place to your heart’s content, with items like a Royal Guard’s Shield, Royal Bow, Royal Claymore, and Knight’s Halberd. Take the stairs and vault past the broken part to enter the corridors above – where bomb-able wall on the left leads to a statue holding an enhanced Rusty Claymore.

If you turn left at the corridor, you can find two more breakable walls – one hides a Lizalfos, while the other has Royal Guard’s Sword and some rusty weapons

The Dining Hall at the end of the corridor is pretty imposing, as two groups of two Moblins each wait for you wielding some fearsome weapons. Try not to lure them all at once and weaken them from range with arrows before moving in for the kill. One one side of the room you can find a Royal Guard’s Halberd trapped in a fireplace, while the other side is hiding a Royal Bow in a chandelier – and all sorts of food materials are strewn about the place, and a Cooking Pot lies in the corner.

In the hall outside, go down the stairs to the Observation Room, where a Moblin stands guard amid a pool of Malice. Kill him and destroy the eye so you can head up to the balcony where one last Moblin and eye block the way. At the top you’ll find a Thunderblade, and outside another Royal Bow and a chest holding 3 Ancient Arrows. However, you can’t proceed from the Observation Room to the Guard’s Chamber as a wall of Malice blocks your way and the eye is on the other side. To get there from the interior halls, you’ll need to take another route.

From here, the way to the Sanctum is largely up to you – but the best method may be to head back to the Library Exit that puts you back on the main road. Run past the Guardian on the landslide to make past a pool of water where a Guardian Skywatcher patrols above. After his rounds, start climbing the tallest of three burnt trees and jump from the treetop to the cliff and climb the rest of the way up. This will put you next to a Guardian Turret which should let you run around it and behind a large column you can climb up to the Sanctum.

You can also climb up the slanted rocks above the tunnel that’s to the right of the Library entrance. This sloping mountain is a bit easier to climb, and is devoid of any guardians – putting you on the opposite end of the Sanctum.

Note that if you continue climbing up past the Sanctum, you can find a tower above that holds a chest with even more Ancient Arrows, which can still be useful when you eventually drop down into the Sanctum to face Calamity Ganon.

Should you wish to attack Hyrule Castle head on, be warned – the main roads up to the Sanctum are covered with Guardians, both turrets and flying ones. You’ll probably want to prepare by swinging by the Akkala Ancient Tech Lab to stock up on Ancient Arrows and weapons to deal increased damage to them, and maybe even the Ancient Armor if you can afford it – or a Diamond Circlet.

The Front Gate is patrolled by a Guardian Skywatcher, as you open the gate using Magnesis and then head up the path.

For those that wish for a sneakier time, another path goes right to a waterfall guarded by another Decayed Guardian. If you’re really set on taking the main path, another Decayed Guardian sits further up – but if you try running up to him you’ll be ambushed by two more Decayed Guardians on the ledge up above to the right. If you decide to climb up and take them out, be sure to look inside the ramparts here to find a chest with Bomb Arrows.

Past the first Decayed Guardian, you’ll come to a roadblock – a wall of Malice with no eye close enough – it’s farther up the road. Instead, you’ll either have to use Cryonis to climb the waterfall to the right, head into the open door on the right leading into a hall towards the Barracks (and a cooking pot!) or glide down around past the Malice on the cliffs on the left and climb back up.

On the other side of the Malice, a Guardian Turret waits along the far rampart, so either stick behind the walls until you can climb up behind it or make a run for it. While the door below on the right leading into the Barracks is sealed, you’ll have to move up the road to the first Gatehouse instead – flanked on either side by a Guardian Turret.

Be extremely careful – as it might be enticing to run inside the Gatehouse, but it’s a trap. As soon as you enter the gates will seal and a Blue Lynel will charge forth, and your only escape lies in climbing up to the second floor, where Malice will spit out skulls at you.

If you haven’t fought a Lynel up close – be extremely wary, as they have high health and deal even more damage. Lynels like to do three quick swings up close you’ll need to backflip to unleash a flurry attack. They also strike forward with both sword and shield, and can charge across the arena in a mad dash. At range, they’ll also expel giant fireballs in quick succession – and are rarely stunned by damage. Make sure you take out the eyes above so the room doesn’t fill with distracting skeleton heads, and fight carefully, making sure you have enough durable and high-powered weapons to defeat him with.

If you manage to defeat the Blue Lynel, you can score a chest with 10 Bomb Arrows, and another chest on the roof holds 5 more.

Outside the First Gatehouse, there’s malice everywhere – and the only eye resides farther up near the Second Gatehouse that you can’t get near. This means unless you want to climb, you’ll need to take the path going left around the castle.

This leads to another Guardian Turret, and a tunnel going right under Princess Zelda’s Study – which we recommend you check out both for the Memory here and some notes in both her study and nearby bedroom. Just be wary taking the stairs up, as the tower is guarded both by a Guardian Skywatcher and Turret nearby.

Continuing on the detour path, there’s a Decayed Guarding looming on the right, and a Guardian Turret stationed on the ramparts off to the left that is easily avoided. Past them is a long tunnel looping around the castle. The path goes by the back entrance to the Library, as well as a Decayed Guardian resting on a landslide to the right. Be sure to check on the plateau above the entrance to the Library for a chest underneath a slab you can knock away with Stasis to grab Naydra’s Scale.

Past the landslide, the path continues past a waterfall and a patrolling Guardian Skywatcher that flies up on the ridge above and down to the cliffside road you need to take. In a pinch, you can climb the nearby trees and then jump to the walls to climb up. If not, dash ahead or take out the flier. Around the corner you’ll find another Guardian Skywatcher, as well as ramparts to the left where a Guardian Turret sits, and a chest above it holds Fire Arrows.

The balcony that the Guardian Skywatcher patrols leads inside to the Dining Room if you wish to explore inside, otherwise keep following the road up.

As you arrive at the Second Gatehouse, note that you can finally destroy the eye that was blocking the path from the First Gatehouse – but beware that two more Guardian Turrets flank the Gatehouse. They’ll be harder to assault than the first Gatehouse due to the moat around the building.

Entering the Gatehouse you’re in for another trap, not only is there Malice on the ceiling with two eyes and two maws spouting skulls – the gates will lock and a fearsome Black Lynel will attack.

He’s even more tougher than the Blue Lynel, and in addition to his major attacks, he also will unleash a loud roar before driving his weapon into the ground to release an explosion with a high radius – quickly run away to avoid it. You’ll also need to take out the two eyes above or there will be too many skeleton heads to contend with.

If you have more trouble with this Lynel, remember that a shot to the face can often stun the Lynel, during which you can run around behind to mount the beast and keep pressing the attack button to deal major damage until he bucks you off. Switch to your most powerful weapon when this happens as you won’t lose durability in this sequence.

If you manage to defeat this imposing foe, you can earn a chest with 3 Ancient Arrows. If you climb up to the roof, a broken spire reveals another chest with a Royal Guard’s Halberd.

Outside, the path to the Sanctum lies before you – but it’s not over yet. There’s another Guardian Turret along the path though it isn’t facing you. If you try and get close to it, you’ll be in the sights of another turret up on the left rampart, and a chest in the room below it holds Bomb Arrows. The path beyond is even more perilous, as three different turrets are placed on high ledges leading up to a wall of Malice that blocks the road to the Sanctum.

You’ll can try and hug the walls for now – but as the path curves, you’ll be in sight of two turrets and a Guardian Skywatcher, making things pretty perilous.

Unless you want to trade shots from afar with multiple Guardians, consider climbing the walls on the right to take out one on a lower platform, them climb up to the higher platform and use some rubble to shield yourself from the farther Guardians while you take out the one near you. Then you can make a dash for the side of the castle, where you’ll find one of the many entrances to the Sanctum – and Calamity Ganon.

There’s another method to getting where you need to go with minimal fighting required – but you’ll need to prepare a whole new loadout if you want to make it work. This route will require a lot of Stamina – either Stamina Vessels acquired from praying to Goddess Statues, or stocking up on food and elixirs that either replenish stamina or give you extra amounts to work with. It’s also not a bad idea to find the Climber’s Bandana, Climbing Gear, and Climbing Boots to make the trek up all the easier.

The North side of Hyrule Castle in particular boasts a lot of climbing points with minimal defenses compared to the Guardians stationed around the South and East sides, and the Malice pools covering the walls on the West. Near the back entrance to the Library, you can climb up above the large tunnel that leads directly to the Sanctum with no one to stop you!

If you have the Zora Armor handy, you can also make use of Hyrule Castle’s many waterfalls. In particular, the many waterfalls on the Southwest side of the castle will lead you straight up to the First Gatehouse, and you can follow the stream up to the moat surrounding the Second Gatehouse, though you’ll need to quickly veer to the left waterfall to avoid the Guardian Turrets stationed here, and once up in front of the Sanctum you’ll need to dodge the other turrets stationed out front.

However you make your ascent – make sure before entering the Sanctum that you still have everything you need: powerful food and elixirs, durable weapons that can output damage (like the Master Sword!), and a good supply of arrows, and any last remaining Ancient Arrows you can hold onto. When you’re ready, enter the first floor of the Sanctum through any door to face off with Calamity Ganon.

WARNING

: Have you done your due diligence and freed all four of the Divine Beasts? If not, this fight will play out very differently. For starters, every Divine Beast you have not freed means one of Ganon’s incarnations is still at large, and will appear before you to fight – turning the

before his final form, but you’ll also lose several playing field advantages had you fought them in the Divine Beasts – for instance, Waterblight Ganon won’t be fought in a pool of water – so you won’t be able to use the Cryonis to make pillars of ice, or use gusts of wind in the Windblight Ganon phase.

However, if you have defeated all of Ganon’s incarnations and freed all four Divine Beasts, you won’t have to face any of them, and instead after the ensuing cutscene you’ll have to face the Scourge of Hyrule Castle himself –

at full strength – which can make things incredibly hard given his massive health pool.

However, for each of the Divine Beasts you’ve freed, a scene will trigger in which the Champion Spirits unleash the power of the Beasts to send a beam straight at Ganon. This will lower his health by 1/8th for every Dungeon you’ve cleared – for a total of ½ of his total health. This makes the fight easier – but there’s still a lot left to do.

Calamity Ganon takes on the misshapen form of a spider beast brimming with Ancient Weapons that he’ll bring to bear against you. He’ll be using many tools of his previous incarnations, so expect to see Windblight Ganon’s wind gusts, Waterblight Ganon’s spear, and Fireblight Ganon’s giant axe, among others.

You’ll need to have your best weapons with you – and note that if you have the Master Sword, it will be glowing with radiant power – and won’t break at all. Otherwise, powerful elemental or ancient weapons can work well against him.

On the ground, Calamity Ganon will usually alternate between swinging his fire axe to the sides or slamming it down, spreading flames as it does. These attacks can be dodged by backflipping or jumping to the side – which is the perfect chance to trigger a flurry attack. If you have durable strong weapons, this becomes the best way to deal damage quick. He will also start menacing the three guardian weapons over his head before lashing out with one. If you can accuratley predict which one will strike, try blocking or dodging to get in an attack in return.

He can also target you with his cannon in which case you should be running to the sides. However, if you think you’ve mastered the perfect parry, you can reflect his own beams back at him that will deal a lot of damage – and even stun him for a short period. As long as you are confident in your abilities, or have Daruk’s Protection as a backup, consider fighting fire with fire.

After dealing some damage to him, watch to see if he rears up – if he does, quickly run away as he slams down to avoid a ring of force that can deal major damage. He may also start snapping and swinging the three weapons above his head, a spear, claw and sword – you’ll have only moments to anticipate which weapon will strike at you to dodge or block it.

If he starts backing up, he’ll climb onto the wall in his spider form and circle about looking to attack you with one of several weapons. This may include the giant spear throw – which you should run forward or to the side to avoid, or a quick salvo from his arm cannon. He’ll even summon large wind tornadoes onto the stage, or summon ice blocks to hurl at you that you an break with your Cryonis Rune. If he crafts a large red fiery orb, be sure to shoot it out of the sky with an ice arrow to stop it before it explodes. However his most annoying attack is the Guardian beam shot, and from his raised position it’s much harder to dodge – but you can try running forward and to the side to duck under it – or use Revali’s Gale to take to the air and glide around. If you need to get him down in a hurry – try loosing an Ancient Arrow his way, and he’ll drop back to the ground.

Once Ganon has been damaged to 2/8ths of his total health (or taking ½ of his health off from his health pool after all 4 Divine Beasts have hit him), he’ll try something new and incredibly annoying – a full shield.

This impervious armor blocks all attacks, and only a very strong blow will power it down – like using Urbosa’s Fury to summon a lightning strike. You can also stun him briefly with a perfect parry or having Daruk’s Protection trigger. Otherwise, you’ll only have a very small window when he attacks to him him back – which can be extremely hard to pull off. If you have any Ancient Arrows left – be sure to follow up his shield breaking with a shot from them to deal massive damage.

One of the only other ways you can extend this vulnerable period is by performing a perfect dodge – because it slows down time, you’ll have an extended period to unleash a big attack on Calamity Ganon. Try doing this during his axe attacks – as they offer the best chance to dodge. Remember that flurry attacks can quickly wear down your stamina – so you need highly durable weapons to keep the fight going – or the Master Sword.

When he takes to the wall in his impervious form, it’s almost impossible to deal any meaningful damage, so focus on evasion and getting away from his attacks until he drops back down – just watch for the wave of force he deals upon landing. However, he does drop his shield to perform attacks like the burst of canon fire, which you can shoot arrows back at him while strafing. If he decides to target you with his guardian laser, remember that a perfect parry will not only destroy his shield for a time, but will also send him crashing back down so you can get more hits in.

Just keep biding your time and dealing damage where you can without getting too greedy, and Calamity Ganon will fall before you – but it’s not over yet.

Ganon will finally have shown his true form, and now towers over Hyrule Field in his giant beast form.

For this final battle, your master sword and other weapons are useless. The only thing you’ll have is your trusty steed – whatever active registered horse you currently have.

This looks incredibly intimidating, but not all is lost – as Zelda will be able to bestow the Light Bow to you – an unbreakable magic bow capable of shooting unlimited Light Arrows. With this you can get on your horse and take out Ganon once and for all – except it’s not that easy.

In his current state, Ganon is all but invincible, and will emit large bursts of purple fire all over the place – so you’re going to want to stick to his sides when all possible. As you try and fail to make any real mark, Zelda will alert you that she’s going to push back the Malice to give you a shot at select targets. These will soon appear as giant glowing gold circles on the sides of his body. Race alongside Ganon as fast as you can, and be sure to put enough distance so you can aim up his form properly.

You’ll need to do this for both sides of the Beast Ganon, so take your time and don’t get to close. You also shouldn’t abuse jumping off your horse to slow down time too much – as this will leave you horseless and and out stamina and vulnerable to getting stomped on or exploded by his flames. Once you hit both sides of Ganon and shoot all the targets, get ready for one to appear along his belly on the underside of Ganon. Wait for after his breath and pivoting to ride quickly beneath him and let loose another arrow.

At this point, ride back near the front of him, but do so cautiously – you’ll need to land a shot on his face, and his weak point will finally reveal itself in the form of a giant Eye of Malice atop his head. Now is the time to ride up and get some distance, and jump into the air to get the perfect bulls-eye – ending the fight once and for all.

With her powers realized, Zelda will finally seal Calamity Ganon away, and the battle will be won. Congratulations, you’ve beaten the Main Story for Zelda: Breath of the Wild!

While there is no New Game+, you’ll have a new autosave file just before the fight that has a star on it, signalling you’re completion of the game. Not only can you now explore Hyrule to your heart’s content – but if you look at your quest logs, you’ll find there is now new notification detailing how many total Main Quests, Side Quests, and Shrine Quests you have completed over the total available number.

In addition, if you look at your map, you’ll find a new tally just above the time of day – a full percentage completion rate!

Be sure to go back into the world and see everything else there is to see in Hyrule – including any Memories you’ve missed, Shrines, Side Quests, and more, and be sure to check our 100% Completion Guide to see what you’ve missed!